September: The OECD urged America's central bank to insure against the prospect of recession with an immediate cut in interest rates as it emerged that the crash in the US housing market had left real-estate activity at its weakest since the economy was brought to a halt by the terrorist attacks on 9/11

March: Panic-stricken financial markets looked for a full one-point cut in interest rates from the US Federal Reserve, amid fears that the collapse of the investment bank Bear Stearns could be the trigger for a global financial and economic meltdown

April: Royal Bank of Scotland urged its shareholders to support a record-breaking £12bn cash call - which they unanimously did - aimed at strengthening its capital position, weakened by a £5.9bn writedown on instruments related to the credit crunch

February: Sir Fred Goodwin, the former chief executive who took the Royal Bank of Scotland to the brink of collapse, is refusing to give back his £16m pension despite massive political pressure for the banker to abandon the £693,000-a-year payout